1962 Epiphone Emperor

Front: A 1962 Epiphone Emperor. This
stunning electric archtop was designed
to compete with Gibson’s Super 400.
Back: The Emperor’s body is 18" wide
across the lower bout.

Today Epiphone and Gibson are
thought of as two divisions within
the same company, but at one time they
were competitors. In the 1920s and ’30s,
this rivalry sparked the creation of the finest
archtop guitars ever made. Epiphone
traced its origins back to Greece, where
the Stathopoulo family began making
musical instruments in the late 1800s. The
family immigrated to America in 1903 and
continued building instruments in New
York City. By the late 1920s the “House of
Stathopoulo” became the Epiphone Banjo
Company, named after the head of the
family—president and general manager,
Epi Stathopoulo. Under Epi’s leadership,
the company maintained neck-and-neck
sales with Gibson until Epi’s untimely
death in 1943.

Below: Three mini-humbuckers offer a large
palette of amplified tones.
Above: The 4-piece maple neck is divided by
three mahogany strips. Note the art-deco Grover
Imperial tuners with their “stair-step” buttons.

Epi’s brothers continued on after his
demise, but without Epi’s vision, the company’s
influence declined. By the mid ’50s,
Epiphone experienced financial problems
leading to its eventual sale to Gibson
in 1957. By 1958, production of new
Epiphones began in Kalamazoo (existing
Epiphone necks and pickups were used for
a few years). The Gibson Epiphone line
was made up of new and different models,
accompanied by some familiar names, such
as the Emperor.

Debuting in 1935 as Epiphone’s top-of-
the-line acoustic archtop, the Emperor
was originally the company’s answer to
Gibson’s 18"-wide Super 400. By the
1950s, Epiphone was making a triple-pickup
electric version. Originally called
the Zepher Emperor Regent, this model
name changed to Emperor Electric in
1954. Gibson continued to make an 18"-
wide, triple-pickup Emperor Electric, but
incorporated the new thinline body style
used on Byrdlands and ES-335s.

The 1962 Emperor pictured here has
typical features for that year, including a
4-piece maple neck divided by three strips
of mahogany, a rosewood fretboard with
V-block inlays, a “tree of life” pattern
adorning the headstock, and three gold-plated
mini-humbucker pickups.

The 1963 Epiphone price list reveals the
Emperor cost $825, plus $60 for a hardshell
case. The current value is $10,000.

You’ll find detailed information on
Epiphone guitars and the fascinating story
of the brand in Epiphone: The Complete
History by Walter Carter, as well as
Epiphone: The House of Stathopoulo by Jim
Fisch and L.B. Fred.

Stay Connected

Sign up for our email newsletters!

Get the PG Apps

On PremierGuitar.com, "Sponsored Content" refers to articles, videos, or audio recordings that are produced or curated by an advertiser but that Premier Guitar is happy to share alongside our own editorial content due to the Sponsored Content’s educational, musical, or entertainment value. Sponsored Content is clearly labeled everywhere it appears, and Premier Guitar's editorial department has no involvement in its creation.